Bishop Victoria Matthews, who served as Bishop of Christchurch from 2008-2018 has been awarded an honorary doctorate by the Trinity College Faculty of Divinity at the University of Toronto.

Awarded on 12 May 2026, Bishop Victoria's Doctorate in Divinity recognises her pioneering leadership in the Anglican Church of Canada and the wider Anglican Communion.

Back in 1994, Bishop Victoria became the first female bishop in Canada when she was appointed Area Bishop of the Credit Valley for the Diocese of Toronto. Her appointment set the foundations for women's episcopal leadership in Canada, just four years after Aotearoa New Zealand's Bishop Penny Jamieson became the first female diocesan bishop to be elected in the Anglican Communion.

Throughout her episcopal ministry, first in Toronto, then in Edmonton (where she was Diocesan Bishop 1997- 2007), Christchurch and later Moosonee, today's event lauded Bishop Victoria's courageous and visionary leadership. 

As Bishop of Christchurch during the 2011 earthquakes, and the seven years that followed, she steered the diocese through massive economic and social upheaval and led an ecumenical response supporting residents in the worst hit areas of Christchurch, where visitors carried out needs assessments and connected people to services that brought hope and practical support to thousands.

Bishop Victoria's work in Christchurch included authorising the swift creation of the Transitional Cathedral after local priest Rev Craig Dixon reached out to "disaster architect" Shigeru Ban. It became the first post-quake building to be opened in the city centre (August 2013), and has continued to serve the church and city as a venue for 14 years.

On her return to Canada from Aotearoa in 2018, Bishop Victoria cared for the Diocese of Moosonee as an episcopal administrator prior to the election of a Bishop for that diocese, while assisting in northern Ontario dioceses and supporting social justice initiatives.

Bishop Victoria's citation also picked up her recent northern Ontario-based ministry, where she has worked "with wisdom and compassion alongside Indigenous leaders and communities facing urban poverty."

Trinity College honoured Bishop Matthews not only for her episcopates, but for her 46 years of service as an Anglican priest, calling her ministry an inspiration and encouragement to a whole generation of women.

Alongside her honorary doctorate, Bishop Victoria holds a BA (Hons) and a ThM from Trinity College, Toronto and a Master's Degree in Divinity from the Yale Divinity School and the Berkeley Divinity School in New Haven, CT, USA.

Bishop Victoria has served on a number of high-level Anglican Communion bodies including the Inter-Anglican Standing Commission on Unity, Faith and Order and attended the Lambeth Conferences 1998 and 2008 when few women could take part as bishops.

Dr Matthews currently serves as an honorary assistant at St Martin-in-the-Fields Anglican Church in Toronto, and this northern summer will oversee the ministries of the Diocese of Algoma's St Luke’s Cathedral in the city of Sault Sainte Marie.